Talking demagoguery, arrogance, hubris

Less than a month ago in this very space I contemplated the campaign to recall Vineland Mayor Ruben Bermudez from office, offering the opinion that, since “incompetence is not an indictable offense,” I would not be in support. I did include a caveat reserving the right to change my mind. Following a recent encounter with the mayor, you may consider me sufficiently enlightened that I’m ready to sign up.

The occasion was the annual “State of the City” gathering of Chamber of Commerce types over lunch at Merighi’s Savoy Inn on Thursday. I no longer regularly attend these hand-squeezers, but my curiosity was piqued by the previous day’s news that the mayor had filed a lawsuit against his own City Council and the municipal attorney. So I decided to show up. Anticipation ran high throughout the room. What on earth would he have to say for himself?

The answer turned out to be, plenty. After sitting through Hizzoner’s demagoguery, enhanced by liberal sprinklings of arrogance and hubris, I came away completely in favor of recalling this monumental municipal mistake. He regaled the gathering with how wonderful everything is, especially himself.

Let’s go to the Merriam-Webster for the clarity of definition: ar-ro-gance, noun: an insulting way of thinking or behaving that comes from believing that you are better, or more important than other people. Reading from a prepared text, the mayor brushed off the most recent legal turmoil only he could have created, intimating that only he knows what’s best for “his city,” and that, trust him, he knows things the rest of us don’t, mysterious things, bad things. Tellingly, he repeatedly referred to Vineland as “my city.”

Definition: dem-a-gogue, noun, a political leader who tries to get support by making false claims and promises ….” Bermudez proudly bestowed upon the assembled subjects a list of “accomplishments” for which he had little involvement and virtually no input. Chief among them were the denial by Vineland City Council and the Cumberland County Board of Freeholders for re-opening the toxic waste treatment plant in the industrial park, and the long rumored conversion of Mori’s restaurant into a culinary school. As a result of his work — his work, understand — we should all feel good about what’s happening in our city. Right.

Definition: hu-bris, noun, a great or foolish amount of pride or confidence. What sets this guy apart from his fellow pols is that he actually seems to believe all the self-congratulatory bull feathers he spreads about. He touted his great friendship with Gov. Chris Christie, and boastfully claimed he was told on a visit to Trenton that he was the first Vineland mayor ever to undertake such a mission. Either he made that up out of whole cloth, or some Trenton back-slapper actually said it. No matter, the poignancy is that he apparently believes it. And he may be the only minority mayor statewide to not understand the governor’s pre-election outreach strategy.

A fourth definition must also be contemplated: ho-li-er-than-thou, adjective, having or showing the annoying attitude of people who believe that they are morally better than other people. Mr. Bermudez has enjoyed a carefully crafted image of a kind Christian gentleman, and couches everything he does in that persona. But there is nothing kind, nor gentlemanly, nor frankly Christian about the way he’s left loyal city attorney Rick Tonetta dangling in the wind under mysterious, undefined charges of some evil agenda. He’s obviously not the first politician to climb on Christ’s back on his way to the mountaintop, but he is surely among those who subsequently threw his savior’s teaching over the side once he arrived.

That lethal combination — demagoguery, arrogance, and hubris combined with a holier-than-thou attitude — should be the game, set, match rationale for Vineland voters to politely remove this pretender from an office for which he appears to be underqualified, ill-suited, and dangerously possessive.

In an exquisitely timed malapropism in mid-speech last Thursday, Hizzoner tried to speak of his administration’s “strategy,” but instead mispronounced it as “tragedy.” It was the one thing he said with which I fully concurred.

Francis Reilly, the writer of Wryly Writ, is president of Reilly Communications Inc. Email him at freilly@comcast.net.